31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! - The Burning

Tuesday

Oct 1, 2013 at 5:20 PM

By Adam Ruhl

Happy October Horror fanatics and Halloween junkies! It’sour favorite month of the year here at Pop Culture Beast and we’ve decided tocelebrate with a whole pumpkin patch of Horror film reviews. Over the last yearShout Factory has established and expanded their Scream Factory line of Blu-rayCollector’s Edition Horror releases. We love them, we waited for years for HDcopies of these titles and Scream Factory delivered with loads of extras. So,in honor of this fine series and in the spirit of Halloween I present to youPop Culture Beast’s 31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! Each day in October we will becovering another of Scream Factory’s Blu-ray goodies, starting with a favoriteof mine, 1981’s The Burning

The Burning

The Film:

In the early 80’s, horror/slasher movies had a real passionfor summer camps. They offered young people misbehaving aplenty and likewisebeing horribly butchered for those misdeeds. The Burning finds its butcher inthe form of the popular east coast campfire story of Cropsey.

Cropsey here is introduced as a caretaker at a summer campin the 1970’s. One night a group of teenage boys decide they’re going to prankCropsey by placing a flaming skull in his bed. Cropsey wakes and in his fearknocks the skull over, immolating himself. Badly disfigured, Cropsey spendsfive years in a hospital before breaking out and returning to the camp to seekhis revenge.

At the camp, a new group of young, lustful teenagers isenjoying the time of their lives. Cropsey sets about dispatching them with alarge pair of garden shears and a violent creativity that would take JasonVorhees several more years to master. Cropsey’s face, an earlier masterpiece ofeffects lord Tom Savini’s, is revolting in the best possible way. Saviniapparently only had a matter of days to create the mask and its simplicityshows, but is still disgustingly effective.

Cropsey starts his attack slow but when the kids take acanoe trip up river for the night he kicks his shear-based slaughter into highgear. The garden shears make a deadly, albeit improbable and difficult to wieldweapon (Director Tony Maylam takes credit for choosing them in the commentary).

In the same spirit of Kevin Bacon in the original Friday the13th, The Burning features some fascinating early performances byfamous actors. Jason Alexander (with hair) appears as a teenage camp-goer, andHelen Hunt makes an appearance with just a few lines in one of her early roles.The Burning also is of historical note for being one of the first Miramaxmovies with Harvey Weinstein producing and Bob Weinstein having a screenplaycredit.

The Disc:

The transfer is perfect with nice crisp grain and colorsthat aren’t too rich. It strikes a picture balance that is very true to the1980’s film stock it was shot on. There are almost no flaws or scratches on theprint.

The bonus features include numerous cast interviews and afascinating interview with Tom Savini. If you’re not into special features, atleast watch the Savini interview (you’ll recognize him as the biker with thecrotch revolver in From Dusk till Dawn), he goes into detail on all the effects,but also has a great sense of humor and ‘tells it like it is’ delivery.

Many of the Scream Factory Collector’s Editions includereversible covers. The inside cover is the original poster art for the film,often made to look like the VHS box. The outside cover of The Burning is anoriginal illustration by Nathan Thomas Milliner. It’s an amazing cover that I wishI had as a poster and Cropsey’s vomit-blood waterfall kind of makes me allkinds of sick.

Final Grades:Story: B / It’s not the most original, but it isone of the most fun summer camp slashers ever made.

Presentation quality: A / Beautifully clean.

Scare factor: B / The formula is too familiar now to betruly scary.

Gore Factor: A / Tom Savini’s effects serve up the grossreal good.

Repeat view-ability: A / For me this is an October must seeat least.

Special Features: B / A few good interviews and thecommentary shed a lot of light on what was for me a pretty obscure project.

Add The Burning to your collection, click Here!

By Adam Ruhl
Happy October Horror fanatics and Halloween junkies! It’s
our favorite month of the year here at Pop Culture Beast and we’ve decided to
celebrate with a whole pumpkin patch of Horror film reviews. Over the last year
Shout Factory has established and expanded their Scream Factory line of Blu-ray
Collector’s Edition Horror releases. We love them, we waited for years for HD
copies of these titles and Scream Factory delivered with loads of extras. So,
in honor of this fine series and in the spirit of Halloween I present to you
Pop Culture Beast’s 31 Days of Scream-O-Ween! Each day in October we will be
covering another of Scream Factory’s Blu-ray goodies, starting with a favorite
of mine, 1981’s The Burning

The Burning
The Film:
In the early 80’s, horror/slasher movies had a real passion
for summer camps. They offered young people misbehaving aplenty and likewise
being horribly butchered for those misdeeds. The Burning finds its butcher in
the form of the popular east coast campfire story of Cropsey.
Cropsey here is introduced as a caretaker at a summer camp
in the 1970’s. One night a group of teenage boys decide they’re going to prank
Cropsey by placing a flaming skull in his bed. Cropsey wakes and in his fear
knocks the skull over, immolating himself. Badly disfigured, Cropsey spends
five years in a hospital before breaking out and returning to the camp to seek
his revenge.
At the camp, a new group of young, lustful teenagers is
enjoying the time of their lives. Cropsey sets about dispatching them with a
large pair of garden shears and a violent creativity that would take Jason
Vorhees several more years to master. Cropsey’s face, an earlier masterpiece of
effects lord Tom Savini’s, is revolting in the best possible way. Savini
apparently only had a matter of days to create the mask and its simplicity
shows, but is still disgustingly effective.
Cropsey starts his attack slow but when the kids take a
canoe trip up river for the night he kicks his shear-based slaughter into high
gear. The garden shears make a deadly, albeit improbable and difficult to wield
weapon (Director Tony Maylam takes credit for choosing them in the commentary).
In the same spirit of Kevin Bacon in the original Friday the
13th, The Burning features some fascinating early performances by
famous actors. Jason Alexander (with hair) appears as a teenage camp-goer, and
Helen Hunt makes an appearance with just a few lines in one of her early roles.
The Burning also is of historical note for being one of the first Miramax
movies with Harvey Weinstein producing and Bob Weinstein having a screenplay
credit.
The Disc:
The transfer is perfect with nice crisp grain and colors
that aren’t too rich. It strikes a picture balance that is very true to the
1980’s film stock it was shot on. There are almost no flaws or scratches on the
print.
The bonus features include numerous cast interviews and a
fascinating interview with Tom Savini. If you’re not into special features, at
least watch the Savini interview (you’ll recognize him as the biker with the
crotch revolver in From Dusk till Dawn), he goes into detail on all the effects,
but also has a great sense of humor and ‘tells it like it is’ delivery.
Many of the Scream Factory Collector’s Editions include
reversible covers. The inside cover is the original poster art for the film,
often made to look like the VHS box. The outside cover of The Burning is an
original illustration by Nathan Thomas Milliner. It’s an amazing cover that I wish
I had as a poster and Cropsey’s vomit-blood waterfall kind of makes me all
kinds of sick.
The Features:
Audio Commentary
with Director Tony Maylam and international film journalist Alan Jones
Audio Commentary
with Stars Shelley Bruce and Bonnie Deroski
Blood ‘n’ Fire
Memories – A look at the make-up effects with Tom Savini
Slash & Cut–
Interview with Editor Jack Sholder
Cropsy Speaks–
Interview with Actor Lou David
Summer Camp
Nightmare – Interview with Actress Leah Ayres
Behind the Scenes
Footage
Make-up Effects
Still Gallery
Poster &
Still Gallery
Theatrical
Trailer
The Specs:
·
1080p Hi-Def widescreen 1.85:1
·
DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
·
English-only Audio & Subtitles
·
Original Release: 1981
·
Runtime: 91 minutes
·
Rated R

Final Grades:
Story: B / It’s not the most original, but it is
one of the most fun summer camp slashers ever made.
Presentation quality: A / Beautifully clean.
Scare factor: B / The formula is too familiar now to be
truly scary.
Gore Factor: A / Tom Savini’s effects serve up the gross
real good.
Repeat view-ability: A / For me this is an October must see
at least.
Special Features: B / A few good interviews and the
commentary shed a lot of light on what was for me a pretty obscure project.
Add The Burning to your collection, click Here!